Runaway Robot

Product Information

Keeping Eric secret is no easy task and with Eric’s penchant for causing chaos and destruction wherever he goes it is only a matter of time before the authorities will capture him and he is sent to R-U-Recycling where he will be crushed into a small metal cube. Can Alfie keep Eric safe and solve the mystery of who Eric is and where he came from…

Runaway Robot by Frank Cottrell Boyce | Goodreads

Confidently written with heart and humour, the unputdownable Runaway Robot will have children roaring with laughter and wanting a best friend robot of their own! - Armadillo In fact it was only the afterword by FCB, telling the reader that Eric was an actual robot, that made me lift the rating to 3*. This was a thoughtful, funny and timely book, yet it didn't quite 'do' it for me (whatever 'it' is).Alfie is quite a lost and lonely soul. He is off school after an accident in which he lost both his hand and his confidence. He takes to taking the bus and hanging out in the arrivals lounge at the airport; although it does take some skills to avoid detection from the authorities. When one day his presence is challenged it leads to an encounter with Eric, a giant one-legged robot in need of a friend. Alfie makes the decision to bring him home with him but a ban on humanoid robots has just been passed, which means Alfie is breaking the law by sheltering Eric. Eric is problematic - he has excellent manners and is polite and courteous; however, he takes instructions literally and that causes a whole lot of problems. They make a charming pair as together they tryy to remember how they each lost their missing body part! Set in a future where the world is highly automated it is a novel which raises issues of humanity, machines and our future roles together. As our world gets closer and closer to a more automated future it is a timely novel for discussion of serious topics of artificial intelligence and science and what makes us human. As ever from Cottrell Boyce, well-developed characters and an engaging storyline. Suitable for ages 8-12. We would recommend the audio version, a very easy listen with a narrator talented and children's and robots' voices. The history of robotics contained inside the story was also rather fascinating and my son had never even considered this side of a robot before, how old the technology might be. And to be honest, I learned something too.

Runaway Robot by Frank Cottrell-Boyce (9781509887910

On winning the prize Frank Cottrell-Boyce said: “It would be amazing to win this award with any book I'd written but it is a special joy to win it with The Unforgotten Coat, which started life not as a published book at all, but as a gift. Walker gave away thousands of copies in Liverpool - on buses, at ferry terminals, through schools, prisons and hospitals - to help promote the mighty Reader Organisation. We even had the book launch on a train. The photographs in the book, were created by my friends and neighbours - Carl Hunter and Claire Heaney. The story was based on a real incident in a school in Bootle. So everything about it comes from very close to home - even though it's a story about Xanadu! Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical MomentsBuy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > That’s ominous. What happened? There are two working theories. First: repulsed by a life of thankless servitude, the cleaner rose up against its fleshy oppressors and took to the streets, eager to drum up support for the AI uprising that will one day reduce all of humanity to burning dust. I was really looking forward to reading this book and I can honestly say I was not disappointed. This is a tale of humour, humanity and two friends trying to get to the truth - Books For Topics No matter how exciting, zany and surprising the action, you can always be sure that Frank Cottrell-Boyce will build his stories on real human emotions, and that’s as true of this brilliantly funny, original and touching novel as of any of its predecessors. Alfie ‘swerves’ both school and the Limb Lab, where he should be going to learn how to control his state-of-the-art new hand, by hanging out at the airport. But everything changes when, through various happy accidents, he finds an enormous robot called Eric in Lost Property. Eric holds the Allen key to the book’s mysteries, both a generations-old legend, and the secrets that Archie is keeping from the reader and himself. Beautifully told and full of characters readers will love, this book will have you laughing out loud one minute, in tears the next. Robot Eric, unfailingly polite, kind and helpful and trying to explain himself through misremembered jokes is an iron man for our time. Unmissable. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.

Runaway Robot - Book Reviews

He has also created a fantastic trilogy, writtenwith his trademark wit, warmth and sense of story, based upon Ian Fleming's novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, comprising Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon. Rory Rooney is unremarkable in almost everything, apart from his capacity to attract the attention of the school bully. But when he suddenly and spectacularly turns green, he becomes a superhero!With lots of funny scenes about a strong but oblivious robot causing mayhem, and a rather grand way about him that made us laugh, we really liked Eric. His stilted voice came over as very funny in the audiobook. And Alfie, with his detailed description of his missing arm, how he copes, his time with other similar children, made an appealing protagonist. A super cool, out of this world book about a 6 ft plus clumsy robot causing all types of mayhem, a determined little boy learning how to use his bionic hand, automated buses, a pizza delivery robot - not your average robot but one that says ‘Buon Appetito!’ when it arrives with your pizza and Dusthogs - robots that clean the streets. What happens when a compulsive liar is suddenly unable to tell anything but the truth? Misunderstanding and mayhem, certainly - but also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and some unexpected consequences. Frank's first book, Millions, won the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2004 and has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2004. Millions has also been made into a movie directed by Danny Boyle. Frank's second novel, Framed, was published in September 2005 and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Prize. It was made into a BBC feature-length film in 2009. Frank's third novel, Cosmic, was published in June 2008. It was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2008 and the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

The runaway robot: how one smart vacuum cleaner made a break

The read provide lots of scope for discussion around issues of robots, robots with human emotions, and whether robots and humans can live alongside one another. There are lots of pros and cons to artificial intelligence and this book is a great lead into such a topic for young readers. The cast of characters is a refreshing change. Alfie is a BAME amputee - a much under-represented people in children’s literature and the supporting characters are also child amputees who are the victims of war (this ties in nicely as these children have all been fitted with next-gen prosthetic limbs from the Limb Lab). He adapted the novel into a screenplay for a 2009 BBC television film. His 2009 novel Cosmic has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Found that this was a difficult book to read. Wasn't overly gripping until the second half. Don't think I'd read aloud in the classroom as a lot of children would not be interested. But wouldn't mind having it in my classroom library for children who are particularly interested in robots. Really? Well, last Thursday, for example, a robot vacuum cleaner made a valiant bid for freedom during a shift at the Orchard Park Travelodge in Cambridge.All of that might not have killed the book, if the people in it had been more sympathetic. Sadly, even by the standards of current children’s lit-supremo Walliams (who I think is really over-rated), the characters are slight. Cottrell-Boyce doesn’t fall into the same trap of using lazy stereotypes that Walliams does, but his characters don’t live at all. They’re one dimensional and pretty dull. Alfie is a bit bionic. He has a robotic hand and when he loses it at the airport, he trots off to Lost Property. But instead of his hand, he finds Eric. Runaway Robot is a little different to the children’s books I usually read as this one is set in the future and features kids with artificial limbs and… robots.